Nat Turner's Rebellion

Nat Turner Becomes a Leader

Turner showed exceptional intelligence from a young age, teaching himself to read and performing experiments with paper, gunpowder, and earthen moulds. He could recall events that had occurred before he was born, even though no one had told him about them, and he had congenital bumps and scars on his head and chest, which according to some African traditions were a sign that he would become a great leader. Many of his compatriots believed that he had supernatural powers, and even local whites agreed that he was uncommonly talented. The austere young man devoted himself to prayer and studying the Bible, focusing especially on the biblical idea that humans are to search for the kingdom of God before other things. In Turner's mind, whatever the African people required would be given to them if they sought first that which was pleasing to God. After weeks of reflection, he later recalled, a spirit twice spoke to him while he worked in the fields. This convinced him that he was destined for some great mission on behalf of God. He began preaching among the enslaved, inspiring them with tales of his communion with the spirit and gaining a reputation as a divinely ordained messenger.

Turner often wondered why he remained enslaved on earth if God in heaven had chosen him for greatness, and in 1821 he finally decided to run away. After hiding in the swamps for 3 weeks, however, he returned to the plantation, explaining that the spirit had ordered him to resubmit to his master. Turner may have also been motivated by less spiritual concerns; according to some records, he married a woman named Cherry several months later. In 1822, the new couple was separated when their master died suddenly and his heirs sold Turner to prominent landowner Thomas Moore and Cherry to a nearby farm. Like his birth, this prominent moment in Turner's life coincided with a major insurrectionist scare. In July, Charleston whites uncovered a planned uprising that may have included as many as 9,000 enslaved and free blacks and was led by two church leaders, a free carpenter named Denmark Vesey and an Angolan-born “conjurer” known as Gullah Jack.

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